Addition of areas of operation for pre shipment inspection agencies expands authorised jurisdictions; agencies must update certificates and contacts.
The DGFT, under the Foreign Trade Policy and the Handbook of Procedure, 2023, adds areas of operation for nineteen specified Pre Shipment Inspection Agencies to Appendix 2G in terms of Para 2.52(c), with immediate effect. The notice expands each agency's authorised jurisdictions and branch listings and requires the notified agencies to update their MRAI/ISRI/IFIA membership certificates and office addresses/contact details within a short compliance period to maintain accurate records.

Statutory committee composition rules for market infrastructure institutions strengthened to require public interest directors majority and PID-led chairs.
Revised governance requires MIIs to maintain specified statutory committees (MC, NRC, SCOT, ROC, RMC, IC) with Chairs as Public Interest Directors (PIDs), PIDs at least equalling other members in number (SCOT excluding IEPs), and voting validated only when PIDs who vote are not fewer than other members voting. Core TORs are non delegable; MC may delegate certain operational tasks to Internal Committees under defined SOPs while retaining accountability. Committees must adopt SOPs, manage sector specific oversight (technology, risk, surveillance, member admission, regulatory enforcement, investments), and ensure independent IEPs and required PID availability.

Deferred customs duty on warehoused inputs is payable at home-consumption; transfers allowed with MOOWR documentation and bonds.
Transfers of resultant goods between Section 65 units are allowed provided the MOOWR transfer Form is completed and endorsed, one-time locks and quantities are verified, the bond officer is intimated, and triple duty bonds are debited/recredited. Deferred customs duty on warehoused inputs becomes payable only when resultant goods are cleared for home consumption by filing the Ex-Bond Bill of Entry and paying duties. Transit risk insurance, maintenance of digital records, and timely monthly returns must be ensured to preserve duty liability until payment.

Exchange rate notification: automated ICEGATE publication will determine customs valuation from midnight following online publication.
Section 14 valuation will use exchange rates published on ICEGATE: SBI 'card rates' will be converted to Bill rates adjusted to the nearest five paise, integrated into ICES, published each publication evening, and take effect from midnight of the following day. Public access and archival storage on ICEGATE are provided, and a contingency framework with nodal officers and manual admin-interface updates applies where electronic transmission or integration fails, with the last updated rates remaining in force until corrected.

Electronic Gold Receipts as securities: creation, trading and conversion governed under a SEBI master framework ensuring vault, depository and risk controls.
SEBI's Master Circular establishes EGRs as tradable securities with a three tranche lifecycle: creation by registered Vault Managers upon deposit of qualifying gold and recording in a common depository interface; continuous trading on stock exchange segments with clearing by Clearing Corporations; and conversion/extinguishment permitting withdrawal of physical gold subject to verification, reconciliation, and assayer procedures. Vault Managers and Depositories must meet specified vault, security, insurance, reconciliation, disclosure and grievance redressal obligations, while a comprehensive margins and settlement framework governs risk management and T+1 rolling settlement.

Customs Broker Profile Amendment: system admin can update core profile fields; brokers must file Annexure A requests for non-automatable changes.
System administration in CBLMS may amend all approved Customs Broker Profile sections-Primary Details, Correspondence Address, Authorized Person Details, Proprietor/Partner/Director Details, Security Details and OPS Details. Brokers must submit change requests for corrections that cannot be handled through existing broker-facing CBLMS applications to the CBLR section with reasons in Annexure A; requests duplicating available application-based remedies will be invalid. Queries should be directed to the CBLMS Helpdesk email.

Goods and services tax changes approved covering exemptions, amended statutes, refunds, filing rules and procedural compliance measures.
Council agreed to Law Committee proposals to amend GST statutes and rules: exclude Extra Neutral Alcohol for manufacture of alcoholic liquor from GST; insert a provision empowering regularisation of non-levy/short-levy arising from general practice; restrict IGST refunds where export duty applies; clarify time of supply and invoicing for reverse charge transactions; and introduce consequential procedural and form changes to refund, return and appeal processes to improve compliance and reduce litigation.

GST refund scrutiny requires enhanced verification of export, credit, related-party, and outstanding-demand claims before sanction.
GST refund claims exceeding Rs. 50 lakh require thorough scrutiny before sanction. Export refunds require verification of GSTR-1 declarations for relevant and preceding periods in addition to ICEGATE verification. Related-party claims, inverted duty structure claims, claims by newly registered taxpayers, and delayed claims for earlier tax periods require enhanced examination. Outstanding demands under another State registration must be deposited before sanction, and pending enforcement or audit proceedings must be checked. Refund rejection requires an adequate hearing opportunity and a reasoned speaking order.

Cargo release time analysis to track Bills of Entry and Shipping Bills and improve clearance efficiency.
Sector-specific cargo release time analysis will track Bills of Entry and Shipping Bills filed between 1 July and 7 July until their release or 7 August, measuring release and turnaround times across imports and exports by cargo type, PGA involvement, intraday workload, inter CFS variation and destination. Regulatory timestamps will come from DG Systems; logistics stakeholders must provide complete, consistent timestamps in the prescribed template (dd:mm:yyyy and hh:mm). Stakeholders must maintain written records for manual captures, report anomalies promptly to nodal officers, and adhere to extant CBIC instructions without artificially altering release times.

Drawback claims compliance: exporters must reply to EDI queries to ensure proper processing and disbursement.
Directive requiring exporters and their agents to reply to EDI system queries for pending drawback claims; claims in "Query Raised" and "EXPORTER" queues will be processed and disbursed upon electronic reply, and exporters must check claim status on ICEGATE. Exporters with pending claims (shipping bills prior to the cut-off) must submit requisite documents or personally present clarifications to the Deputy Commissioner (Drawback) within the compliance period; failure to reply satisfactorily will result in claims being processed as per available records and applicable rates. Contact details for assistance are provided.

Solar panels as capital goods: SEZ developers may install for captive common-area supply under existing power guidelines.
Requests from SEZ developers and co-developers for procurement and installation of solar power panels to generate captive electricity for common areas should be considered as capital goods and assessed by Development Commissioners in accordance with Para 1(i) of the Power Guidelines.

System audit requirement for Professional Clearing Members mandates annual IT audits and timely submission of audit reports.
The circular mandates annual System Audits for Professional Clearing Members (PCMs) under the prescribed System Audit Framework and TOR, requires maintenance of a register of SEBI/CC technology circulars, and submission of audit reports- including management and Governing Board comments and exceptional non compliance formats-to Clearing Corporations within defined timelines. Auditor selection norms, independence requirements, CERT In empanelment, audit scope covering IT infrastructure, governance, security and BCP/DR, reporting formats with root cause and corrective-action timelines, and provisions for follow on audits/ATR verification are prescribed.

Special call auction with no price bands enables price discovery for eligible listed investment and holding companies.
SEBI introduces a special call auction with no price bands for ICs and IHCs whose scrips trade infrequently and whose six month VWAP is below 50% of per share book value based on listed investments. Eligibility requires uniform industry classification, at least one year listed without suspension, and at least 50% of assets invested in scrips of listed companies. Exchanges must give 14 day notice, disclose key price and book value information, coordinate sessions across exchanges, require at least five PAN based unique buyers and sellers for successful price discovery, and provide adequate risk management and surveillance.

Call auction duration changes require random closure and enhanced surveillance to curb pre-open session manipulation.
The pre-open call auction is prescribed as a one-hour session with segregated windows for order entry, matching and a buffer, and a system-driven random closure during the final part of order entry. Stock exchanges must implement enhanced surveillance with alerts based on specified cancellation and modification parameters, report alerts to the regulator by EOD, seek client explanations, and display cancelled order counts and quantities in real time. Risk management and margining requirements vary by issue size and scrip type, and exchanges must adopt systems and rule changes before the ninety-day applicability date.

Transshipment permission to Fedex Express TSCS (India) Pvt. Ltd. granted with bond and compliance conditions.
Permission is granted to M/s Fedex Express TSCS (India) Pvt. Ltd. to transship imported consignments from Bengaluru to specified destination airports via bonded trucking by M/s Shreeji Translogistics Ltd for one year, subject to execution of Transshipment Bonds of Rs. 1,00,00,00,000 by each party. Goods must be specifically manifested, segregated, processed in a secured TP processing area under customs supervision with MAWB and CTM documentation, sealed containers, destination acknowledgement within 30 days for bond re crediting, a Rs.20 application fee, recordkeeping, and observance of prescribed customs procedures and circulars.

Core SGF contributions: participants must provide risk based pro rata funding; LPCC replenishment and default waterfall govern recovery.
Participants who directly join LPCC must make risk based, pro rata contributions to the Core SGF equivalent to the MRC deficit after Issuer and Clearing Member contributions; LPCC may collect these upfront or staggered and must top up any shortfall until Participant contributions are received. Contributors must replenish Core SGF to MRC immediately after use, limited to one replenishment per 30 calendar day period from the date of default notice. The default waterfall prescribes an ordered loss absorption sequence culminating in capped additional contributions by non defaulting members/participants and, if necessary, pro rata haircuts to payouts, with conditions on resignation, caps, and regulatory approvals for haircut use and post haircut exits.

SEZ import exclusion: specified jewellery items excluded from the recent import restriction when brought by SEZ units.
Administrative clarification: imports of the specified jewellery items falling under the cited ITC (HS) classifications, when imported by SEZ units other than FTWZ units, are outside the scope of the earlier import restriction notification, relying on the applicable SEZ regulatory provisions to exempt such imports from that notification.

Export obligation periods under Appendix 4J revised, changing pre import timelines for specified inputs and advance authorisations.
Amendments revise the Export Obligation Periods in Appendix 4J of the Handbook of Procedures, 2023, prescribing new timelines measured from the date of clearance of each import consignment by Customs for specified inputs under pre import conditions and Advance Authorisations. The Public Notice lists the revised periods for each listed import item, confirms immediate effect of the amendments, and invites stakeholder comments within fifteen days to the DGFT email address provided.

Conversion of SEZ processing area into non processing area approved, subject to duty refund certification and No Dues compliance.
The Board approved multiple procedural actions under the SEZ regulatory framework, including ratification of prior minutes with additional documentation, one year extensions of formal approvals and LoAs, recommended partial de notifications, and numerous approvals to convert processing area to Non Processing Area under Rule 11B subject to No Dues Certificates and prescribed duty refund certification by the Specified Officer and Development Commissioner. Innovative proposals and airport based SEZs were deferred pending rule amendments or inter ministerial consultation, and co developer approvals were granted subject to standard SEZ Act/Rules conditions and taxability examination by the Assessing Officer.

Employee bid cut-off rule revised: bids placed on T+1 must use the T-day cut-off, allotment based on T-day price.
Employees participating in exchange-based OFS shall place bids on T+1 day at the cut-off price of T day, and the allotment price will be based on the T-day cut-off price, subject to any discount. All other provisions of the prior OFS framework remain unchanged. Market Infrastructure Institutions must update systems, amend bye-laws where necessary, notify market participants, and implement the change within the prescribed implementation period.